


Her American Lieutenant (Stand-alone Version)

by Daphne_Fredriksen



Category: The Man in the High Castle (TV), Victoria (TV)
Genre: AU, Christmas, Crossover, F/M, One Shot, Vicbourne, WWII
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 20:59:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16961358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daphne_Fredriksen/pseuds/Daphne_Fredriksen
Summary: This work is part of a larger Vicbourne/MitHC Crossover, "Vickie Kent's Christmas".  MitHC does not lend itself easily to Christmas, or holiday cheer, but this is the "happy" chapter.This work was written for the Vicbourne Advent Calendar 2018. If you like this work and want to hang out with more Vicbourne fans, please check out our fun group, "For the love of Vicbourne" on FB!





	Her American Lieutenant (Stand-alone Version)

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue in brackets and italics [...] represents Vickie speaking as her remembered self as Queen Victoria

It was a freezing night, but even in her threadbare coat Vickie Kent felt warm. It was snowing, and she was walking home to her cottage with an American lieutenant.

There was a small contingent of intelligence officers at the RAF base, and she and a few other girls had been putting on Christmas pantomimes and sang carols, which the officers laughed at and applauded and were also generally mystified by. The Yanks in turn did comedy skits and played jazz and sang Santa Claus songs, which the British girls equally enjoyed and were confused by.

One of the Americans had taken to her, and she to him. Lieutenant John Smith. He was the most dashing of the officers, with his dark curls and mesmerizing green eyes.

Arriving at the cottage, she took his coat. It felt heavy, and it made a crinkle-y sound. “Did you need anything from your overcoat?...”

He took the coat temporarily. “Feels funny…” he felt a bit, “What on earth… oh, so that’s what keeps making the noise in my pocket!” He took out a small packet and handed it to her. “Merry Christmas, Vickie… er, Happy Christmas, as you say here.”

“Why, John… you didn’t?! Oh, this is too much, I don’t have anything for you...”

“You do, though, have something with your cheerfulness and kindness to me. I can’t thank you enough for inviting me here these evenings. I might get back late to barracks, but it’s worth it to be in your company.”

She hugged him, and opened the package. In it was Camay soap, some Hershey’s bars (Vickie suspected he’d deprived himself of some of his c-rats), and, unbelievably, an actual pair of stockings! “I’ve never had nicer presents!” she said with glee.

She made them tea. “Let’s sit in front of the fireplace.” They’d sat together like this for several nights now, and it was almost falling into routine.

John put his arms around her. “Honestly, I’m not one to celebrate holidays that much, but these days with you… they feel like home.”

“I understand. And I have to tell you that you remind me of someone.”

John said nothing, but looked perplexed. She reached out her hand to touch his face. “I don’t mean like an actual person walking around town. Not a rival…”

“Like someone in a dream?” He reached for her hand and kissed it. A shock went through her immediately.

“No… much too real for that. Like, well…” she stumbled for words.

“Past lives, Hindu reincarnation? Do you in believe that stuff, Vickie? ”

“I might!” she teased. She knew it now, just as she’d always known she’d once been Queen Victoria. She knew who he was from the way his lips touched the back of her hand. “John, this is a funny question but… would you be Whig or Tory?... I mean, Labour or Conservative, if you were British?”

He was taken aback by the question. “Well… at home I’d say I’m a Democrat. I admired FDR before he was assassinated. Before the war I worked in the New York Mayor’s office on relief and employment programs. So that’s Labour, isn’t it? But the Republicans have some good points, and at any rate, I found it was helpful to be able to work with them, if I wanted to get things done.”

She smiled. “You have such a practical approach. You remind me of Queen Victoria’s Lord M. Do you know much about Lord Melbourne?” John shook his head. “He was her first prime minister, and he taught her… oh, so much of what she needed to know. And he was kind.”

She went to her bookshelf and took out a volume. It was Greville’s diaries. “This has some information about the friendship between them. He was really the first love of her life, you know.”

John still looked perplexed. “Thank you. But… why are you telling me all this?”

Vickie sighed, and snuggled against him. John was surprised – she had never put her head on his chest like that, but he clearly liked it. He kissed and stroked her hair, admiring her small, soft body. He cared for her, more than he could say, or dared to admit. He might wear a cravat like this “Melbourne”, if it meant he could have all the time he wanted with her here.

“You remind me of him, because… you are so kind. You’ve taught me a lot… oh, things about your country that I never knew. [ _Even with several diplomats and foreign ministers at my disposal_.] And it’s how I am always at ease with you. I never feel like a stranger anymore, even though this town is new to me after evacuating London. And above all, because…” She was afraid to go on, and idly fingered the patches on his uniform.

John lifted her chin, and saw her glowing face. Very sweetly he kissed her cheek, letting his lips remain there a bit. He looked down, almost shyly, because he wanted her so much, in a way he couldn’t describe, much less explain.

“A-and because… just as Lord M. was to Victoria, you… you’re the first love of my life, John!”

John took in a sharp breath, unsure what to do. She was not his first love, it was true. But he and Helen had broken it off, and John had never looked back. Let Captain Gordon have his lover; she didn’t deserve him.

But this beautiful Englishwoman… she had given him happiness back. From the moment he met her he’d felt there was a reason to get up in the morning, a reason that was more than just army duty.

“Are you sure, Vickie? I’m a soldier, with all that a soldier’s life entails… and it’s hard on a woman.”

“My father was a soldier too. My Mum was able to bear it, and I am too. And I’ll always be true to you.”

“I know you will.” With that he kissed her, softly at first. She responded warmly, and he kissed her harder; soon he was questing, feeling her body with his hands. But he was cautious; love could be snatched away so quickly.

Vickie melted into him. So this what Lord M.’s kisses were like! This was the passion she’d sensed, and that he’d always clamped down. She’d waited a hundred years to find out…

John looked out the window, catching his breath. The flurries were heavier, he noticed.

“I suppose you have to go,” said Vickie. “The barracks and all that.”

“Do you want me to leave? I can deal with the CO; it wouldn’t be the first time a soldier didn’t make it back to base in a storm. But what about you - are the neighbors vicious gossips? Will I be compromising you?”

“Oh, John, you’re not compromising me, and I don’t care what others think [ _I never did!_ ]. Do you? [ _You always seemed to…_ ]”

He took her tighter in his arms. He was beginning to be aroused now, pleasurably but not painfully so, and hopefully not enough that she would notice. If she accepted him, she would discover his condition soon enough, and they would both enjoy that discovery.

“No, for once in my life, I don’t care about appearances. I only want to give… Vickie, you said I’m your first love. Won’t you let me be your first lover, too?”

She kissed him in a way that left no doubt. “Of course I will! John, I’ve waited all this time for you. Make me yours!”


End file.
